Now let's turn in our Bibles this evening as we come to a close to Genesis chapter 3. And as I said earlier on, we're looking at verse 21, just this very simple but wonderful text of scripture that reminds us of what God did for Adam and for Eve. And we read these words, unto Adam also, verse 21, unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothed them. It's especially that last little phrase I leave with you this evening, and clothed them. We're thinking about being clothed by God's grace. And let's seek the Lord and ask for Him to help us all this evening to focus upon the Word and to have a message for our hearts. This evening, Father, we thank Thee for hymns which have so clearly directed us to the covering that is found in Christ alone. Or we lay aside our garments, tainted, ruined, and, Lord, we have to say they've been muddied and dirtied by our sin. Lord, we have no righteousness to boast in. And yet we can look in faith to this covering in Christ. And this evening, while we might hear truth that we know already, Lord, may it come with powerful, powerful application to our souls so that we leave again rejoicing in the blood of the Lamb and saying, it is well. It is well with my soul. Hear our cry, Father. Lord, I pray this evening as I sense the great need for the Lord to give me unction once again. Fill my mouth with thy truth. Bless every dear waiting soul and may the Lord have the preeminence and be greatly glorified. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. There is something, I believe, fascinating and deeply intriguing about the language that we have in Scripture surrounding the thoughts of being clothed. We've come across the words of our text here in verse 21 where the Lord takes hold of Adam and he takes hold of Eve and the midst and the depth of their sin and their wickedness and the Scripture just very plainly, very simply declares unto us that God clothe them. But it's not the only occasion we read of such actions by divine hands, or even actions that took place for men and for women. I think one of the most striking examples that we have in the Scriptures, in particular in the New Testament Scripture, is there in Luke's Gospel, chapter 8. It's a passage that we're all familiar with, and I'm sure we all know so well as we've read the Bible, and it's the occasion of the man that was demon-possessed. Of course there two men, according to Matthew's gospel, I believe it was. But we have also this identity of one individual in particular who is highlighted for us as we often refer to as the demoniac of Gadara. This was a poor individual. This was a wretched man, we might say. Here, in human terms, we might say it was a wild animal that was impossible to tame by human hands. The Bible describes his life and his existence in the most pitiful of language. He lived among the tombs, the Bible says. He inflicted himself with pain. And of all the things that really makes us understand a sense of shame and a sense of reproach with which he lived is that this man was found to be naked. And it seems that he had no regard for how he was or how he looked or how he seemed. And there was certainly no help to be found for him among human individuals. And then things, they change, don't they, in that great passage of Scripture that we can never really grow tired of reading of. And at the end of Luke's Gospel, chapter 8, and in verse 35, we read of a transformation that could only be effected by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Bible says that they went out, that is the individuals, to see what was done. They came to Jesus and they found the man out of whom the devils were departed. And he was the man who was seating at the feet of Jesus. He was clothed and he was in his right mind. That for me is one of the great statements of Scripture. Here is the change that the Lord can make and create in the life of someone who is saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. He does everything that people cannot do. He does everything that we cannot do for ourselves and He does everything that a person can never do for another person when it comes to our spiritual need. He sits us at His feet. He puts us spiritually into our right mind and He clothes us. Now I know this refers to a physical clothing and a physical attire, we might say, but we understand the spiritual significance in this. And you know what even strikes me even more about Luke chapter 8 is not so much what takes place in the life of this poor, wretched individual, but you know what, it's the response. It's how the people reacted. They had no idea what to do with this. They had no idea how to think or what to think and it simply says in Luke 8 and there in verse 35, at the end of all of this, and they were afraid. They were afraid. Now without going off on the beaten track and those tangents I was speaking about. in the course of the week. Let's just remind ourselves of something so important this evening, that when the Lord deals with men and women in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, it must do something to communities. It takes hold of churches and Christians and individuals, that when we see men and women who may be like this poor man, who we look at and we say, no hope for them, No hope whatsoever. So powerfully taken, transformed and saved. Do you know what it does? It creates a sense of confusion and bewilderment in the minds of people. What has happened? They're afraid as to what they saw. They realise the immensity and the wonder and the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. And without going much further into that thought process, I want that to just register in your mind because here was a man and what people could not do, they couldn't even put one item of clothing upon him. He was a wild, reckless, sinful, spirit indwelt or demon indwelt individual. But now the transformation is this. And the Lord says, he clothed him. So you see how just in one instance, in one example, the significance of when God takes a life in that respect and clothes the individual. You could go throughout different parts of the Bible along the lines of this theme. In fact, if you go to Revelation, for example, go to the last book of the Bible, chapter 7 and verse 9, what do we read? The great multitude are what? They are clothed in white robes. So even there the Lord puts a stress upon how we are to appear and what the saints of God are. Now what are those white robes? Well that's not our works, it's not our acts, it's not our goodness, it's the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then in Revelation 9 in verse 13, we read of our Lord Jesus Christ as the victor, as the triumphant one. And the Bible says that he's clothed with a vesture dipped in blood. So without going much further, from Genesis to Revelation, there is a significance that God reminds us of in the Bible of what it means to be clothed and why we need to be. And as we turn to this particular chapter here in Genesis chapter 3, we come essentially not only to the first reference to Adam and Eve and to mankind being physically clothed, and we should recognize that this evening, but more strikingly is this point that we want to really emphasize this evening, that it is God who does the clothing. It is God who does the dressing. It is God who does all of this. And as we think about this in the light of Holy Scripture, we have a wonderful message that brings us to the Gospel of our great Savior, clothed by God's grace. What is it we can learn this evening from this text in the Gospel? Well, two very simple thoughts I trust that will bless your own soul. First of all, when God clothed man, there was a need. When God clothed man, there was a need. I mean, again, without wanting to be lighthearted and, you know, sort of treat these things in a flippant manner, but it's just, in a physical sense, it's the same for us. We have a need to be clothed every day. We have a need to go through our routine. We get up from our beds and we brush our teeth and we have a wash and we put on our clothes because we have a need to face the world in which we live in a respectable and in a decent manner. And sometimes we have a need to put on a uniform. We have certain clothes we have to wear for certain jobs and certain occasions. This everyday scenario that we're faced with is something which stares us right in the face here, that when God clothed man, it's because there was a need. There was a real urgent and pressing need. There's a number of fascinating and thought-provoking matters that come to light here that I want us to think about. The first one is this, when we think about this need, that in response to this great need, it is God who moves. It is God who acts, it's God who provides when He clothes our first parents. Now that's not the first time in Genesis 3 that we're reminded of this great truth. In fact, if you go back to verse 15, a very well-known verse in the Bible, it's often called the evangel, or the proto-evangel, which just simply means the first time the declaration of the gospel of Christ is made. First time it's the promise given, And have you noticed in the likes of Genesis 3 and verse 15 that again it's all of God. What has Adam done? What has Eve done? What has Satan done? Here is the wreck and the ruin that is in the wake of Adam and his transgression, Eve and how she was deceived and Satan and all of his evil ways. And the Lord says there's no hope for you Adam and yourself. And there's no hope, Eve, for you in yourself. And the Lord declares in that great verse, in verse 15, He says, this is what you have done. This is what you have caused. This is the chaos that you have brought down upon yourself. And you will be cursed as a result, and you'll suffer and sustain loss as a result. And then the Lord declares, so what will I do? I will put enmity, he says, between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, thou shalt bruise his heel. This is the, in many respects, the first glimpse of Calvary. It is. And do you know what's stamped upon the first glimpse of Calvary? God does it all. He does everything that we need. And that's really just further established, even more so, in the likes of verse 21. It's unto Adam. Now remember what's gone on between verse 15 and verses 21. It's the consequences of sin. It's the outworking of the transgression. Adam's sorrow for you and Eve's sorrow for you. And even to the serpent, there is a word that is spoken against it itself. And then the Lord steps back into the picture and He says, now what will I do? I'm going to clothe you. I'm going to cover you. In other words, I'm going to save you. I believe this is a wonderful truth. It's very similar to the words of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2 and verse 2 and 3. Listen to Paul when he says these words. Among whom also we all had our conversation, Paul says, in times past and the lusts of our flesh. And we fulfilled the desires of the flesh and of the mind. And we were by nature the children of wrath, even of others. That's quite a serious list. We're the children of wrath. It's almost, you know, what do you do then? There's no hope for us. And then Paul says, but God who is rich in his mercy. He steps in. He's always stepping in. Adam and Eve were in the last of their flesh, weren't they, because of sin and they were hiding and they were fearful and they were worried and they were concerned. What are we going to do? What are we going to do? How can we rectify this? Have you ever spoken that word to your own heart? Have you ever come to a place before the Lord where you realise how undone you are? Many of us are saved this evening and we can think of that time. Maybe when we were very young it wasn't with such a significance but we still realized it. How can I be saved? How can I get right with God? How can I be clothed? How can I be covered? I feel, I sense my sin, my need. What must I do? What must I do? Have you ever cried those words? Have you ever felt that need? The answer is here, isn't it? God clothed them. God acted. out of grace and mercy. And so we must see that in this great need here that it's God who moves and God that provides. Something else which I think is really interesting in this particular verse, and that is that there's a question that is not easy to answer as it's unspoken. He said, well, what do you mean? Well, let me explain what I mean. How were they clothed? He said, well, that's easy, Pastor. The Bible says in verse 21 that there were coats of skins and God clothed them. But my question is not what was used to clothe them, but who physically clothed them? The act of putting on these animal skins. There's a sense in which it's an unspoken answer here. I believe it's unlikely that God, in a physical sense, put the skins on them. Maybe wrong, that's just my own thoughts. But I believe, in line with what the Scripture teaches, it's more likely that they were clothed by what we call divine appointment or instruction. In other words, it's the proclaiming of the gospel. This is what you need. And the Lord provides it. And here is the sacrifice which is made. And the Lord points to it. You need the lamb. You need the skins. You need the covering. You need to be clothed. And it's not you, Adam. And it's not you, Eve, just trying to find what you can do. I'll provide it for you. Here is what it is. This is what is needed. And that must be put on. That's why I would suggest this evening it's more so by divine instruction that we read these words, and the Lord clothed them, pointing them to what they need, providing everything that they need. Ah, but they must put it on. They must wear this. And so they did, and we rejoice in this. I believe this is important to keep in mind because remember, long before the likes of Leviticus, remember even for the little ones we hear this evening in the book of Leviticus, it can be a difficult book, I know that. I think for the adults here this evening it can be a difficult book. But it's a very important one in the Bible because it's always pointing us to what you need. It's always about two things. We are unclean because of sin. And there is the need of a perfect sacrifice. And you could almost condense all of Leviticus into that. And if you wanted one word to summarize Leviticus, we might say holiness unto God. It's all about that. And in Leviticus, and in other parts of the Bible, you've got this meticulous narrative of what the sacrifice needs to be, how it needs to be. It can't be with blemish. It must be a male. It must be of this age. It must be this. Precise details. But remember, even long before all of that was put in form, in written form we might say, the need, the need for a sacrifice was mentioned right here. It was mentioned at the very moment sin entered the world. It coexists with the entry of grace. I will save you, Adam, and this is how it will be. I will clothe you. Why does this need to be clothed? Let's go a little bit further before we go to our last point. Why does this need to be clothed? Why? Because of the presence of shame. The presence of shame. Now we know from the likes of Genesis 2 verse 25, you've got this verse that says at the end, they were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were They were not ashamed. So that's the moment before the fall and the sin. They were not ashamed. And the Lord makes it abundantly clear here of what is happening. They were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed. This is how they were made. There was no sense of sin. There was no realization of their guilt. And the most important thing to understand here, when the Bible just makes this little point and it says that they were both naked and they were not ashamed, is that they had no association about how they are in that first form in which God made them and how they stood before God himself in a sense of relationship. It's only when they enter into this place of disobedience and they sin and their eyes are open, not as Satan lights them about, But they sense now their guilt, and their reproach, and their sense of need, and it's now immediately associated with their nakedness. And so they feel it, and they know their shame. And that's why they were so desperate to try to hide themselves, hide themselves from God. hide themselves from His presence. And that's why they, in vain, took the fig leaves, didn't they? Remember how they took the fig leaves and they were trying to make a covering, an apron for themselves? Well, look, they could not hide and they could not cover. Dear friends, this evening, we know this, don't we? We know it well. But let's just really press it into our hearts. We cannot hide from the presence of Almighty God. And we cannot dress ourselves in a sense in which we can say, Lord, this will please you. This will cover my sin and guilt. This will make me right in your eyes. We can't do those things. The need of a covering was because of this sense of shame and the inability to help selves. And so God must and God did move. You know, furthermore, remember when they sowed fig leaves in verse 7 of chapter 3, something important to remember, the principle was right. They instinctively realized we need covering. But they went about it all the wrong way. It was not what they could do with their hands, but what they needed from God. Isn't that right? Is that not the same need? Isn't it amazing that we fast forward to 2024, March as we muddle our way through the middle of this month, and it hasn't changed? And you know what? People haven't changed. They're still doing the Adam and Eve thing. They're still trying to find something to cover themselves with. They're trying to hide themselves. It's the same need. When God clothed man by His grace, It's because there's a need and the need hasn't changed and so the answer hasn't changed. Well we'll finish with this last thought this evening that when God clothed man there was a method. There was a method and the method we can see in verse 21 and it simply reads, did the Lord God make coats of skins? The Lord God did make coats of skins. It's a wonderful statement in the Bible. Now already in verse 15, Adam and Eve had been informed, as I've indicated, that suffering would be the portion of the one that would be the eventual conqueror. Again, just to get our thoughts right this evening, verse 15, in its first form, is this great promise of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's going to be one Adam that's going to crush the head of Satan. Now, remember something, very important. What must happen or what must fundamentally be part of this great truth? There'll be one who will deliver and save men and women from their sins. The conqueror will know a form of suffering. His heel shall be bruised in the process of crushing the head of Satan. And for the first time since the fall, The actual physical death of an animal would serve to demonstrate this even further. You know, there have been some who read this passage of Scripture who despise the Bible, who pour scorn upon the Bible, who are what we say higher critics of the Word of God. And they will come to this passage and they will say, oh, your God is a bloodthirsty God. Or they will make the accusation, say this is a very different God from the New Testament. The New Testament God is love and grace and kindness and patience and so on and so forth. And Old Testament God is fierce and angry and violent and demanding. That's how they speak. That's how they try to make us to want to think about the Bible. Not a bit of it. I want to say something to you this evening, there's nothing as gracious and loving and merciful than a glimpse of what you have before your eyes. God made a covering for the undeserving. God clothed those who did not deserve to be clothed. That's the great demonstration of love, isn't it? And herein is love, not that we loved him, not that we clothed ourselves, but that he loved us and gave himself that propitiation for our sins. Well, that's what you've got right before your very eyes. It's important that we answer these questions. Don't be afraid to answer these questions, Christian. Someone comes at you in the course of the week and makes these sort of accusations and say, well, your God is bloodthirsty and this isn't a God of love. You can just be confident and say you don't know anything of what you're talking about. You have no idea what you're talking about. Somebody even tried to suggest that in verse 21 that the animal wasn't killed. And they say it's just like maybe the fleece of wool from a sheep. You don't always kill the sheep, do you? You just take the wool off. Is that true? Is it just the fur or the wool of an animal which is in view here? No, it's not. It's the slaying of the animal. It's the very skin of the animal which signifies the necessity of death itself. That's what is needed. What is it we say in response to all this? How is it we must think about the method by which God clothes sinners? In other words, why must it be the cross? And why the death of the dear Lamb of God? Well, first of all, we might say this, that we know that the sacrifice of the specified animal was always only going to be for ceremonial and typical cleansing. Just something very important. When God clothed Adam and Eve with these skins, This was a ceremonial act. This was a, we might say, a word picture. This was a truth that was symbolizing something else that they need. You need to be clothed by my Lamb. by my appointed Savior, by the Lord Jesus Christ, by the promised Messiah. And Hebrews, well, we don't have time this evening to go into all of Hebrews, but we know what Hebrews teaches us. Hebrews 10 verse 1, the law having a shadow of good things to come. not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year after year continually make the comers their own to perfect. It is not possible, verse 4, that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. And so when God clothed Adam and Eve, we might just borrow the language of Hebrews and say Adam and Eve, this skin, This is ceremonial, this is a picture, this is a type, this is something else that you need. I'm pointing you to one that will come. One that will take your place. The Lord in this moment and forever onwards is constantly setting forth Christ. Christ in Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy and Joshua and so on and so forth. Every page, every truth, every picture, every type. And it all begins right here when God clothed man. And it was all by grace. The Lord is constantly, through this also, illustrating the seriousness of Adam's sin. What did Adam's sin do? Listen, as we finish here. What did Adam's sin do? What did it bring? It brought death. It brought death on a multiple of levels, we might say. So now as Adam, and I believe Adam was required to slay the animal. I know we read, as I said, of this verse of God clothing him, but I would argue it was by divine appointment. But Adam must take the knife. He must slay this animal. It's something he's never done before. You've got to understand the significance of this. You've got to see the weight of this. He's never seen death. He's never seen the shedding of blood. There has never been a need prior to the entrance of sin into this world. And then of course we're going to see further things because we're going to see death in his family. And the Lord is going to show this more and more. This is what sin brings, Adam. It brings death, Adam. It brings death, Adam. And when he takes the knife and he slays the sacrifice and he slays it, the Lord says, Adam, it's a reminder. The wages of sin is death. And then when he's clothed, it's a reminder. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. And so he would witness what death is in a physical sense, but more so the enormity of sin. And yet the greater enormity of the grace of God. You see it? The method is so important. Because also as I finish, the method furnished for Adam and Eve, a substitution. One in the place of another. One who takes the place of another. That's why we could dispense of this foolish notion that some suggest, oh, this wasn't an animal that was sacrificed and this was just maybe the wool of a sheep or something on those lines and fur was wrapped around them. Listen, he wasn't clothed for warmth. He was clothed because he had a need. And a need was the sacrifice of another. And here it is. Dear believer, it's important that we understand this great truth. That when Adam and Eve would put these coats on, these skins around themselves. It was the first time they had been clothed. First time they'd physically ever worn anything in their lives, we might say. And in a sense, gone was their shame. And gone was that reproach. Because now God had clothed them by His grace. Maybe a little bit of poetic license in terms of what I'm saying at this moment. I sort of like to think of Adam just feeling it for the first time. Just, you know, what does this feel like? Something never known before. Before this moment I sensed my great shame. And I felt my nakedness before a holy and a righteous God. And my sin, it was the undoing of all that I am. Ah, but now I feel it and I know it. I'm clothed. And I'm ready. I'm saved. And Eve as well. It was to Eve as well. Salvation in the family. So I say to you, dear Christian, what discourages you? What casts you down? Contemplate what you are in Him. You're clothed by the righteousness of another. the great substitution, the great death of our Lord Jesus Christ. What a great truth that we've been brought to consider this evening. Jesus can cover our defenseless head. He makes us ready. The close of the words of the hymn of Horatius Bonner when he said, I lay my sins on Jesus. The spotless Lamb of God, He bears them all and frees us from the accursed load. I bring my guilt to Jesus to wash my crimson stains white in His blood most precious, till not a spot remains." We're all clothed this evening physically. The question is, are you clothed in Christ? Only the Lord knows that. And truly only the Lord can see that. May you seek Him with your whole heart this evening. Let's close in prayer. And I just trust and pray that the Lord has spoken to your heart, maybe as a Christian, maybe a bit discouraged this evening or cast down, that the Lord will just bring you back to Calvary and stir your soul afresh. And for the unsaved, may God work in our hearts in these days and bring us to Christ. Lord, bless now thy precious word to our souls. Thank Thee for this day. We thank You for Thy near presence. And now may the love of God our Father, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. God bless you.